The Poetry Corner

Come Girl, And Embrace

By Frank James Prewett

Come girl, and embrace And ask no more I wed thee; Know then you are sweet of face, Soft-limbed and fashioned lovingly; Must you go marketing your charms In cunning woman-like, And filled with old wives' tales' alarms? I tell you, girl, come embrace; What reck we of churchling and priest With hands on paunch, and chubby face? Behold, we are life's pitiful least, And we perish at the first smell Of death, whither heaves earth To spurn us cringing into hell. Come girl, and embrace; Nay, cry not, poor wretch, nor plead, But haste, for life strikes a swift pace, And I burn with envious greed: Know you not, fool, we are the mock Of gods, time, clothes, and priests? But come, there is no time for talk.